July

July was a great month. I started the month off in Vancouver welcoming home my good friend Ian and his fiancee Ulala, who returned to Canada (via vancouver) for three months before they were to set off for Argentina. We spent the night just hanging out, had a few drinks and then came back to my hotel room and watched, of all things, the Goonies. After Van city, I went to LA, San Francisco, and London.

LA was great, took the free hotel trolley down to Manhattan Beach, rented a bike everytime and just rode along the boardwalk.


It was my first time in San Francisco, and it was a city I had always wanted to visit, so I would make the most of my layovers, even if they were a little short. I would wake up early at 6am, and take the BART train into the city from the airport. It was great! I got off at Powell St. where the trolleys start and ride it all the way to Fisherman's Wharf. It was really beautiful in the morning, even with the fog still rolling in. The sun eventually came out 'round 11am, but I had to catch the noon train back to the airport. The next time I went, I visited Coit tower, named after it's benefactor, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, and it is in the shape of a fire hose (apparently Ms. Coit appreciated firemen!!). Unfortunately, because it was still fairly early in the morning, 10am, it was closed and I could not climb up the tower for it's scenic view of the city. That's alright, more too see, just keep walking. From Coit tower, we ( I was with a girl from my crew, Marcie Trudeau) made our way down the street and back up again to Lombard St. a.k.a. the zig zag street. That was cool; it was pretty neat to see cars driving down it.


London was great. My frist time in London was back in February, but I didn't get out much for photos or sightseeing, so this time I thought let's see it all. I spent the whole day ( from 1pm-10pm) walking about the city. It was a long day, but I'm glad I did it, now I know my way around a little better.

June I went to St. John's and Ottawa.....exciting I know

Actually, it was my first time to Newfoundland, and it was a little foggy, so it lived up to it's reputation!!




By contrast, Ottawa was such a gorgeous sunny day that I had to go outside for a walk. Unfortunately I arrived in the evening, so all the galleries were closed (the National closes at 5pm, a little early! and the Can Contemp Photogs has been under construction the whole summer!!!).

OSAKA 007

Here are a few more pics of my vacation in Osaka

HELLO AGAIN!

It's been awhile; and I apologize. I stopped posting pics, because, well, for awhile there I didn't have any to post! Then came the summer and I was too busy travelling around. Now I will recap the past few months and start anew. Hope you like!

After visiting my friends in Montreal mid-January I did three months of turns, which meant no layovers and no photos! One of my first layovers came at the end of April, I got to go to Chi-town!! It was great, I took a l-o-n-g train ride into the city, but it was worth it just to walk around, have pizza and catch some jazz!


My luckiest trip came in May, a few days before my vacation to Osaka. I got the call, "can you make it in 10 min?". For 48hrs in Shanghai, I can make it in 5! Shanghai was great, the crew were awesome; the regular route ladies took us newbies around and showed us where to get the pearls, the bags, the foot massage and the tailored jackets. I found a great tea shop near the hotel where everytime I bought tea, the owner would sit me down, pour me a glass and give me a few freebies too! It was a great 2 days!


After Shanghai (literally after, less then 24 hrs later!) I was on a plane to Osaka for my vacation! I was lucky enough to have Ian and Urara put me up for the week that I was there, and my friend Kasumi Tooyama was nice enough to meet with me daily for shopping, cafes and just wandering about the city like we used to do! Please excuse me, I've just travelled over 20hours on a plane and traverse through space and time.....Urara looks great, she always does!


MORE TO COME!!